Maey f



(No Model.)

M. F. SALLAD-E.

PLAITING MACHINE.

No. 246,345. Patented Aug. 30,1881.

Ti i

T cr v 0: 1' .I E 11 I N 9 El C N. PETERS. mla-uxho n lur. Wnhin mn. D. c.

UNTTE STATES v PATENT MARY F. SALLADE, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

PLAlTlNG-MACHINE.

$PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 246,345, dated August 30, 1881.

Application filed October 14, 1880. (No model.)

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MARY F. SALLADE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plaiting-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

My invention relates to the finishing ofplaits or flattened folds formed in goods of any description by means of a reciprocating blade working to and from a pressure and finishing roller or other equivalent mechanism.

It consists in subjecting the plaited fabric, so soon as folded under moderate pressure, and in connection with one or more thicknesses of suitable textile or absorbent material, to the heat and moisture of free steam.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is asectional view, illustrating one form of apparatus suitable for carrying out my process. Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly in section; and Fig. 3, a transverse section of another form of apparatus adapted to the same end.

In the practice of my invention I may make use of any of the known forms of plaiting-machines for the purpose of gathering and forming the folds.

1n the drawings I have shown a reciprocating blade, A, working to and fro upon a plate, 13, toward a pair of rollers, O O, rotating intermittently, their motion being arrested during the advance of the blade and resumed as it recedes, a form of mechanism for producing folds now in common use.

The plaiting-machine A B C. O is secured upon one end of a suitable table or bed-plate, D, carrying at its opposite end a pair of rollers, E E, rotatingloosely in suitable bearings, the inner one, E, being placed slightly in front of the other one, E, in such manner as that the top of the outer roller, E, shall be slightly above the top of the inner roller, E, as shown in Fig. 1. Two endless bands, F F, of heavy muslin or other soft' textile material, are carried separately over these rollers, and thence back over the rollers C G of the plaiting-machine, the upper band, F, over the upper rollers, E and C, and the lower band, F, over the rollers E and O. The bands are kept closely stretched upon and over the machine-rollers O G by means of a series of three small tension-rollers, G G G, secured in a frame, H, and placed in front of the rear rollers, E E, so that the ban ds in passing together to said rollers may be carried over the two outer and under the one central tension-roller, as shown in Fig. l.

The frame H is pivoted at one end to asuitable support, I, and supported at the other by a swinging leg, J, which, being placed at an angle, permits the free end of the frame to be elevated or depressed as required to take up more or less the slack of the bands and to produce more or less tension thereon. The bands are made to revolve by theintermittent movement of the rollers O G, and move in unison therewith, and, being broughttogether in passing over said rollers, are then kept together until they pass out from the rollers E E. The bands are supported in their upper and lower reaches by the small rollers K K.

M, Fig. l, is a pan or vessel, so supported in front of the rollers U 0 of the plaiting-machine as that the endless bands shall, after leaving said rollers, pass together over the upper edges of the vessel in close contact therewith. A tube, N, is fitted to one end or into the bottom of this vessel M, and connected by a flexible tube, 0, to a suitable steam-generator, P, by means of which the vessel M may be kept charged with steam.

In the operation of this apparatus the material, X, to be plaited is fed in under the plaiting-blade A, and folded thereby in front of the rollers O G, in the usual manner. The fold is formed while the rollers are stationary, the blade in its forward movement catching the cloth and pushing itinto a plait against the upper roller. As soon as this isaccomplished the rollers are made to turn, and the plait is drawn in between the endless bands on the rollers and enfolded between them, while the blade is simultaneously lifted and retracted in readiness to form another fold. The plaited material thus inclosed between the two belts or hands F F is carried forward with an intermittent 'movement over the vessel M, and is there subjected, 1nomentarily,while thus blank eted and confined between the material composing the belts, to the action of the hot vapor or steam arising from said vessel. Afterleaving the vessel, the fabric remains confined between the bands until they pass between the rollers E E, during which interval the operation of fixing the plaits is fully completed. The bands in passing back from the rollers E E to the rollers O C are fully exposed to the air, and are thus dried. The effect of the slight moisture and of the heat thus applied to the plaited fabric in connection with a moderate degree of pressure serves to set and permanentlyfix the folds, and to impartafinish thereto not to be attained in any other manner, while the blanketing of the fabric so protects it as that the most delicate materials, such as velvets, ribbons, &c., are not affected and changed by the process.

In the form of apparatus illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 the heat and moisture of the steam or vapor are applied to the blanketed fabric after the folds are formed, by means of a perforated drum, instead of by the use of a vessel, M. This perforated drum R is substituted for the lower roller, 0, of the plaiting-machine, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and a third roller, S, is arranged beneath it, so as to carry the endless bands half-way or more around the circumferenceofthepertorateddrum. Thebands inclosing the fabric are then carried back over a series ofrollers, E G, (see Fig. 3,) arranged substantially as hereinbefore described, to maintain pressure upon the plaits and for drying the bands before they return to the plaiting-rolls. Steam is admitted to the drum It from a suitable generator by means of a tube, 0, which connects with a hollow journal at one end of the drum. (See Fig. 2.) The opposite end of the drum is closed, and minute apertures are pierced in its entire periphery.

The steam escaping through these apertures penetrates the band stretched thereon and operates upon the superimposed fabric. An escape of steam outside of the band is prevented by means of a covering-plate, T, Fig. 3.

By the use of my improved process I am enabled to plait and finish velvets, mourningcrpe, Uanton crepe, silk mull, and other fabrics, which it has been found impossible heretofore to plait except by hand. The goods finished by my process present, moreover, a fresh look, such as is found in hand-work, instead of the dead, flattened appearance found in machine-work, and are altogether free from the shiny appearance which is found not only in machine-work, but also in hand-work finished with a hot iron.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The process herein described for fixing and finishing the folds of a plaited fabric by exposingthefolded fabric, in combination with one or more bands or thicknesses of suitable protecting absorbent material, to the heat and moisture of steam, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the forming or pressing rollersU G of a plaiting-machiue, and with a suitable steaming device, M, ofcndless bands ofabsorbent material carried separately over and actuated by said rollers to pass together from between them and over the steamer M, substantiallyin the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MARY F. SALLADE.

\Vitnesses:

J. 1". ACKE'R, Jr., DAVID A. BURR. 

